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Taizé: from Easter to Pentecost

Posted on: May 22nd, 2013 by CEP Administrator No Comments

News

With the feasts of Ascension and Pentecost we reach the second great peak of the year in terms of numbers taking part in the meetings, with a great majority of those people coming from Germany. Several volunteers who will stay until the end of the summer have already arrived from India, Benin, Madagascar and Colombia. One week after the Orthodox churches celebrated Easter, a group from two Moscow parishes have also been here. The young people from the group led a workshop at the end of their time here entitled “Being Christian in Russia Today”.

For the community the last few weeks have seen us losing Brother Jean-Pierre and coming to terms with his loss. A native of Switzerland, at 94 years old he was the oldest brother in the community.

And good news came in the form of the entry into the community of a young man from Tanzania, who is living with the brothers in the fraternity in Nairobi, Kenya. Brother Alois made the trip to Kenya to give him the brothers’ white prayer robe.

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News from Taize by email – 22 May 2013

Anglican newspapers win Canadian Church Press awards

Posted on: May 22nd, 2013 by CEP Administrator No Comments

News

By Staff

The Anglican Journal and two diocesan papers took home Canadian Church Press awards. Photo: Mark Hauser

The national church’s Anglican Journal, the diocese of Ottawa’s Crosstalk and the diocese of Quebec’s Gazette won several awards at the Canadian Church Press Awards on May 17.

The Journal was awarded second prize in the General Excellence (newspaper) category for its entry of the September, October and November issues, which were produced by its former editor, Kristin Jenkins. Judge Carol Goar of The Toronto Star commented that the issues had a “good mix of reporting and reflection, forthright approach to difficult issues of faith and finances, clear aboriginal presence, welcome international perspective, strong writing and good design.”

That category was the only one in which newspapers and magazines were evaluated separately. In the rest, for the first time, newspapers and magazines were considered together but divided according to circulation under or over 10,000.

Journal art director Saskia Rowley also won second prize for the layout of the September edition (circulation over 10,000). “A very beautiful publication and a very well-done redesign,” commented judge Brian Morgan, who is currently art director of The Walrus magazine. She also won third prize for her front-cover design in the same issue. Morgan wrote that the photo of Bishop Victoria Matthews was a wonderful and graphic opening image…and that it was “a very well executed, impactful cover – VERY well-designed.”

During the two-day conference that preceded the awards, Rowley was also elected as vice-president of the CCP.

Two diocesan papers won awards for articles focusing on animals. Archdeacon Bruce Myers, editor of Gazette, won a second-place award for his theological reflection “Do Dogs go to Heaven?” Rolf Pedersen, a former newspaper editor and now a seminary student who judged the category, called the reflection “an excellent piece,” with plenty of biblical backup. Pederson added that Myers had sparked his interest in reading the book Animal Rites: Liturgies of Animal Care. “Bruce manages to universalize the issue of the place of non-human animals in God’s creation,” he wrote.

Crosstalk, edited by Art Babych, won a third-place award for a feature in a publication under 10,000 for Lisa Chisholm-Smith’s article “Forever Friends.” Freelance writer-editor Cynthia Shannon, who judged the category, wrote that the story was a “nice, original take on animals; sound arguments/points made backed by biblical passages! Well-written and organized. Thoughtful and thought-provoking.”

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Anglican Journal News, May 21, 2013

Huron awards three honorary degrees

Posted on: May 20th, 2013 by CEP Administrator No Comments

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By Anglican Journal staff

(L to R) Governor General David Johnston, Archbishop Thabo Makgabo and Archbishop Fred Hiltz pose with their honorary degrees with Dr. Stephen McClatchie, principal of Huron University College, and Bob Bennett, bishop of the diocese of Huron. Photo: Courtesy of Huron University College

London, Ont.’s Huron University College presented three honorary degrees to three distinguished people at its theology convocation on May 9. Governor General David Johnston received a doctor of divinity degree, while Archbishop Thabo Makgabo, primate of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, and Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, both received honorary doctorate degrees.

Before being appointed governor general by the prime minister in 2010, His Excellency David Johnston had a distinguished academic career as a law professor, dean of the faculty of law at the University of Western Ontario, principal and vice-chancellor of McGill University and president of the University of Waterloo.

Speaking at the ceremony, Archbishop Terry Finlay pointed out that the governor general is already the recipient of honorary degrees from more than 20 universities, but only one other doctor of divinity degree. Another was in order because “at the heart of all that His Excellency has done through his life is a profound commitment to public service and the common good,” he said. “This is one of the foundational pillars of the Christian calling. To know divinity in service in our secular culture is to see divinity within humanity.”

The Right Rev. Thabo Makgabo was elected as the Anglican archbishop of Cape Town and the metropolitan of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa in 2008 and is the youngest bishop in Southern Africa ever to be elected to this office.

Makgoba served in various parishes before becoming the suffragan bishop of Grahamstown in 2002 and bishop of that diocese in 2004. In 2009, he earned his PhD from the University of Cape Town. His thesis on the spirituality of South African miners has since been published as a book. He also received an honorary divinity degree from the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church in New York in 2009 and accepted it on behalf of “all South Africans who were denied access to education.” In February 2012 he was inaugurated as the chancellor of the University of the Western Cape.

Introducing him at the London, Ont. ceremony, Huron’s dean of theology the Rev. Canon Dr. Bill Danaher praised the Archbishop Makgabo as “an excellent bishop and pastor…[who] has mediated conflicts between miners and management, protested against sexual violence, and advocated for the rights of immigrants and minorities.” He added that the primate has been a reconciling presence in the wider Anglican Communion, “where he has courageously proclaimed that the mission of God is greater than what we can ask or imagine.”

Archbishop Fred Hiltz began his ministry in 1978 in his home province of Nova Scotia and served in several parishes, as well as on several diocesan committees and the diocesan council. From 1987 to 1988, he also served as director of the Anglican formation program at the Atlantic School of Theology in Halifax. Hiltz was elected suffragan bishop of the diocese of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island in 1995 and then as diocesan bishop in 2002. He was elected primate of the Anglican Church of Canada in 2007.

In his remarks at the convocation, Bob Bennett, bishop of the diocese of Huron, said he suspected that it must have been very difficult for the archbishop to leave his home on the Atlantic coast and move to Toronto to take up his work as primate, but he believed that it was God’s will for him. “The challenge of being a bishop is far, wide and deep,most especially for the primate. Bishops are to proclaim and interpret the gospel, guard the faith, unity and discipline of the church, be faithful pastors and wholesome examples to the communities they serve,” Bennett said. “I believe that Fred Hiltz has been and continues to be all of those things for the church, and that’s exactly why we call him Fred and not Frederick; for he is in deep relationship with all those he is called to serve in the name of Jesus.” He noted that a 2010 task force concluded that Anglicans in Canada wanted a spiritual leader who is both prophetic and caring. That “describes Fred Hiltz perfectly, for when he uses the phrase, ‘our beloved church,’ he means it,” he said.

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Anglican Journal News, May 13, 2013

New communications strategy for Council of the North

Posted on: May 20th, 2013 by CEP Administrator No Comments

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May 17, 2013 - Prince Albert (SK) – Bishop Michael Hawkins, Chair of the Council of the North, is pleased to announce that Hauser Communications, based in Napanee, ON, has been chosen to fill a one-year contract to provide communications services for the council.

The new communications strategy will focus on sharing stories of the council that reflect the church’s five Marks of Mission. According to Bishop Hawkins, “We have stories to tell to the entire church: stories of heroic and sacrificial service, and stories of individual and community transformation through the Anglican Church’s ministry of presence and gospel proclamation.”

Bishop Barbara Andrews (Anglican Parishes of the Central Interior) describes stories of northern ministry as stories about “facing challenges with creativity.” Many have also described the council as the proving ground of the church-a place where new strategies and new ways of doing ministry are tested. In this way, the council plays a special and integral role in the ongoing life of the wider church-squarely facing the difficulties of the Canadian church’s work in the 21st century with openness and courage.

Hauser Communications, with experience in developing print, video and online resources for the church, will focus on the collection and sharing of these stories.

In the initial stages, the work will centre on preparing for the Joint Assembly in Ottawa, including assisting the chair and co-chair to prepare a video presentation, and on refreshing the Council of the North Month resources to be distributed to parishes in mid-July.

In terms of a long-term and broader approach, Hauser Communications will develop an improved, more financially sustainable communications infrastructure that can succeed over the long-term. This will be an infrastructure that requires minimal ongoing mentorship and guidance, and a communications plan that can be continually updated and evaluated.

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Anglican Church of Canada, News from General Synod, May 17, 2013

New Zealand: Christchurch Cathedral crowned by color

Posted on: May 16th, 2013 by CEP Administrator No Comments

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By Taonga staff

The Trinity Window is pieced together in Christchurch’s Transitional Cathedral. Photo: Anglican Taonga

[Anglican Taonga] Christchurch’s Transitional Cathedral is being given a colorful new outlook on the city.

The “trinity window,” crowning the main entrance facing Latimer Square, features images from the Rose Window in the quake-damaged cathedral.

Made up of triangular glass panels, the great window should be complete within days.

Bishop Victoria Matthews is excited by the progress. “This is what we have all been waiting for,” she said. ”What I see here… is fragments of a much larger picture.

”In this world we only see hints of the life to come. In this world, we get glimpses of extraordinary beauty and awe and hints of things to come. ‘We don’t get the whole picture all at once, and this window is like that.”

The NZ$5.4m (US$4.53m) Transitional Cathedral is now expected to open at the end of June.

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Episcopal News Service, May 8, 2013

Bicycle Ambulances on the Move

Posted on: May 16th, 2013 by CEP Administrator No Comments

News

By Simon Chambers

A completed tricycle ambulance in Bangladesh. Photo: UBINIG

They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. If that’s so, PWRDF’s partners in Mozambique should be flattered that the bicycle ambulances that they have created, and that have captured the imaginations of Anglicans across Canada, have now been replicated in Asia.

As part of a maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) program in Bangladesh funded by PWRDF and the Canadian International Development Agency, PWRDF partner UBINIG has taken the idea of bicycle ambulances and run with it.

“UBINIG staff really liked the idea of bicycle ambulances,” said Zaida Bastos, PWRDF’s CIDA Program manager, who oversees the projects in Bangladesh as well as Mozambique. “So they took the idea and made it work in their own context.”

“Their own context” sounds simple, but is not, because UBINIG is working in 15 districts across Bangladesh, and each district has its own challenges: some are in hill country, others are prone to disasters, still others are know for rampant poverty. UBINIG has worked with local communities, government officials, and traditional birth attendants—known as dais—to identify and address those local needs.

“When we build the tricycle ambulances, we need to build for the tallest woman who might need to sit in it,” said Palash Baral, UBINIG’s Programs Manager, “so the tallest woman on the planning team sits in the bed of the ambulance, and they build the frame around her.”

Baral went on to talk about the need to cross rivers to reach health clinics in Bangladesh—a problem that the arid regions of Mozambique don’t face. So boats are being built to ferry the tricycle ambulances across the rivers, each one constructed for the river it will serve. “Every river has different waves and wind,” said Baral.

Five tricycle ambulances and two boats were constructed in 2012, and already another four ambulances and one more boat have been built this year. By the end of PWRDF’s current program in Bangladesh, each of the 130 dai ghors (maternal health houses) that will service over 500 villages in the 15 districts will have its own tricycle ambulance, and five boats will enable those ambulances to cross rivers on the way.

Who knows where bicycle ambulances will appear next!

A boat designed to ferry the tricycle ambulance across the river. Photo: UBINIG

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The Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund, Email Update–May 2013

Global survey aims to equip Anglicans to engage in Truth and Reconciliation Commissions

Posted on: May 15th, 2013 by CEP Administrator No Comments

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Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu commends the “exciting and promising initiative”.

The Anglican Communion’s Anglican Peace and Justice Network (APJN) has launched a worldwide survey to gather the experience of Anglicans and Episcopalians who have taken part in national or local truth and reconciliation commissions.

The aim is to learn from Anglican contributions to past and present truth and reconciliation processes. The information received will be used to create resources and mechanisms to support Communion churches who may become involved in such reconciliation work locally. It will also identify Anglicans and Episcopalians who can offer insight and advice.

APJN convenor South African Ms Delene Mark anticipates a wealth of information from the APJN survey which has been addressed initially to the Primates* and Provincial Secretaries of the 38 Provinces of the Anglican Communion, as well as the Bishops of extra-provincial dioceses.

“We have already received details of Anglican engagement with truth and reconciliation processes associated with ethnic conflict, slavery and racism, the exclusion of people experiencing the sharp end of poverty from decisions made about them, and two national initiatives concerned with the legacies of the separation of Aboriginal children from their parents”, she said.

“APJN member Bishop Terry Brown, who has himself been deeply involved with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in Solomon Islands, has pointed out that since 1970 there have been nearly 90 Truth Commission-related activities around the world following historic or recent periods of armed conflict and major human rights abuses. Now is a good time to look at what we have learned and discern mechanisms and resources to build up and support the participation of our churches in their own contexts.”

The move has been welcomed by Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, Dr Desmond Tutu, who himself chaired South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission at the end of apartheid in his country.

“This is an exciting and promising initiative”, he said. “Truth and Reconciliation processes are complex but they are a vital means of bringing wholeness, healing and peace to a world where many of the deep wounds of the past prevent our whole human family from enjoying abundant life.

“We have a huge amount to learn from one another. Drawing together what we have already discovered will encourage us and equip us to do more of this liberative and life-bringing work.”

The Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, the Most Revd Fred Hiltz, also endorsed APJN’s initiative. “As people of God who vow at their baptism to respect the dignity of every human being and strive for justice and peace among all people, we have a solemn obligation to support the mandate of the Truth and Reconciliation Commissions.

“Their work of addressing historic injustices and their horrific legacies requires a deep commitment over time, sometimes a very long time. It requires courage to hear the truth and its teller with reverence. It summons us to the hard work of apology with integrity. It calls us to be patient in the time it takes for acceptance of apology. Beyond these moments is the task of restoring right and just relations and in some cases forgiving them for the first time ever.

“The Anglican Church of Canada is committed to supporting the work of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission addressing the legacy of colonialism and a historic federal government policy of assimilation of Indigenous Peoples through the Indian Residential Schools.”

Archbishop Hiltz referred to the prayer that accompanied ‘Remembering the Children’,^† an Aboriginal and Church Leaders’ Tour of Canadian cities undertaken in 2008 to prepare for Truth and Reconciliation. “There is much to learn”, he reflected, “as we dare to dream of a path of reconciliation where apology from the heart leads to healing of the Heart.

“For people of faith a Truth and Reconciliation Commission is about the work of the gospel. It’s about an honest coming to terms with the ways in which one people or in some cases a number of peoples have been wronged through the political systems of others. It gets at the evil of racism and the way in which it rears its ugly head and hand as one people looks down upon another people and intentionally seeks to dismiss their history, suppress their language culture and traditions, and crush their very spirit and dignity. The work of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission is about truth-telling, repentance and renewal. It is hard work borne of a strong hope and sustained by an enduring commitment to walk together in new and different ways grounded in respect and justice for all.”

Archbishop Hiltz called APJN’s survey “a powerful sign” of the Anglican Communion’s commitment to its Marks of Mission, particularly the fourth Mark: To transform unjust structures of society, to challenge violence of every kind, and to pursue peace and reconciliation.

†Visit the Remembering the Children website at www.rememberingthechildren.ca.

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Anglican Communion News Service, ACNS 5391, May 15, 2013

Lambeth Palace Library regains stolen books

Posted on: May 14th, 2013 by CEP Administrator No Comments

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By Diana Swift

The Great Hall at Lambeth Palace is home to 120,000 books. Photo: Lambeth Palace

From the standpoint of the Church of England’s intellectual heritage, Justin Welby’s new archiepiscopy is off to a very positive start.

A large cache of valuable historical books has been returned to the venerable Lambeth Palace Library, more than three decades after their theft by a former library associate.

According to BBC History magazine, the now-deceased employee confessed to the crime and the whereabouts of the books in a sealed letter sent to the library by his lawyer soon after his death in 2011. No further details about the mystery perpetrator are being released—perhaps to encourage other book stealers to imitate the repentant thief of Lambeth.

Searching the attic of the man’s modest London house, library staff found box after box of volumes—about 1,000 in all, comprising 1,400 individual publications. Their stolen index cards were stored in nearby drawers. Staff had known for decades that many of the library’s works were missing but understandably assumed they had fallen casualty to a 1941 incendiary bomb that hit Lambeth Palace’s Great Hall, where many early volumes were kept. The library, established in 1610, lost an estimated 10,000 books in that strike.

In 1975, librarians noticed empty spaces on shelves that had housed important works known to have survived the bomb, and empty spaces in the catalogues where their index cards should have been. Some of the collection’s most precious books—16th- and 17th-century volumes with maps dating from the great age of exploration of mariners such as Martin Frobisher—had disappeared.

Many of the books came from the collections of three 17th- century Archbishops of Canterbury: Richard Bancroft, George Abbot and John Whitgift, the last a trusted adviser to Queen Elizabeth I. They included an early edition of Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part Two, as well as Theodor de Bry’s America, a 10-volume account of early expeditions to the New World, and illustrated medical texts such as Jacques Guillemeau’s The Frenche Chirurgerye.

According to James P. Carley, a retired distinguished research professor from Toronto’s York University, the heist also removed books by Daniel Defoe of Robinson Crusoe fame, and contemporary political tracts such as A Defence of the Honorable Sentence and Execution of the Queene of Scots, published days after Mary’s beheading in 1587. Carley, who first became interested in the Lambeth Library when doing research there, chronicled the history of the stolen collection in the April 13 issue of the UK magazine The Spectator.

Some items are still missing, says Carley, including the magnificently illustrated Mariners Mirror with its 45 engraved maps of Europe’s maritime coasts.

Despite alerts to booksellers in Britain and around the world, not one of the missing books had ever turned up, even though it became clear the thief had intended to sell them.

Now in the process of restoring the books, library conservationists found that the thief had excised or chemically removed identifying marks. “He cut out the archbishops’ coats of arms from the armorial leather bindings, and removed ownership stamps and library markings showing which case, shelf and spot each volume occupied,” says Carley, who is an associate fellow at Toronto’s Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies and author of The Books of King Henry VIII and His Wives. “The books themselves were in good condition—they were not covered in mould—but some had been taken apart to remove the maps,” says Carly, who hopes to help organize an exhibition of the restored books for 2015.

“We’re about 10 per cent of the way through the restoration program,” says Declan Kelly, director of libraries, archives and information technology for the national church institutions of the Church of England. “While the restoration will be challenging—for example, where a coat of arms was removed from a leather binding—our expert conservation staff are doing all they can to restore the books.” In addition to that, the staff is creating fresh coats of arms in matching leather and placing them into the gaps created by the removal of the originals.

“We are definitely giving some thought to an exhibition, which might be either physical or virtual, but at the moment don’t have definite plans,” Kelly adds.
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Anglican Journal News, May 1, 2013

Michael Lloyd, accountant and priest, 1935 – 2013

Posted on: April 27th, 2013 by CEP Administrator No Comments

News

By Diana Swift

The Rev. Dr. Michael Lloyd made the Anglican Book Centre both a profit centre and a meeting centre. Photo: Anglican Journal

The Rev. Dr. Michael John Lloyd, CA, passed away on April 21, 2013, at the Toronto Grace Hospital.

Born in England on Jan. 27, 1935, a few year years before the outbreak of World War II, Fr. Lloyd later spoke of standing on the edge of a cliff as a boy to watch the aerial “dog fights” between British and German planes.

He graduated from the University of Leeds in 1956 and arrived in Montreal in 1957 to join the chartered accountancy firm of Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Company.

The same year, he entered Diocesan Theological College in Montreal, graduating with a bachelor of divinity degree from McGill University in 1960 and also gaining admission to the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Quebec.

Ordained in the diocese of Montreal in 1963, Fr. Lloyd served as assistant priest at St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Lachine until 1965 and then became manager of the Diocesan Bookroom in Montreal as well as an assistant at Christ Church Cathedral.

Hired as director of the Anglican Book Centre (ABC), he relocated to Toronto and turned around the ailing book emporium. Thanks to his business acumen, Lloyd’s years as director from 1968 to 1995 were among the centre’s most profitable. According to anglican.ca, Lloyd transformed the centre into a veritable cash cow, expanding its inventory of high-quality non-print products—including fine pieces from London’s finest silversmiths, vestments from the Vatican’s Belgian suppliers. He travelled abroad to personally handpick jewelry and icons to sell in the store.

Profits aside, however, says the Rev. Daniel Graves, priest-in-charge at Trinity Anglican Church in Bradford, Ont., “Michael created a unique and remarkable place, a hub, a nexus, in which folks of all sorts and conditions, from all branches of Anglicanism and the wider Christian community would meet, share their experiences in ministry, exchange idea, and find the finest selection of religious books and merchandise anywhere in North America.” Lloyd hired Graves as a bookstore clerk.

“Indeed, under his leadership, the centre quickly became known as the greatest religious bookstore in the world,” Graves adds. “When visiting clergy and church dignitaries from around the world came to Toronto, a stop at Anglican Book Centre was always a requisite part of the journey.”

As ABC director, Lloyd was instrumental in establishing a successful trade publishing program for the church, publishing both The Book of Alternative Services 1985 and Common Praise 1998.

Always impeccably attired, “Michael could have been a character in a Trollope novel,” says Graves. “He was well known for his variety of interesting hats. On one memorable occasion he wore a tricorn hat into the book centre on Bastille Day. He had a wry sense of humour and eclectic tastes, all of which gave the centre its unique identity.

Anne Tanner, former manager of the ABC, recalls Lloyd as a larger-than-life figure—“a quiet but forceful presence and a sometimes unpredictable and intimidating man who was also very kind to those in trouble. He was very good dealing with the customers.”

After retiring from the ABC, he was associate priest at All Saints’ Kingsway Anglican Church and honorary assistant at St. George’s On-the-Hill Church, both in Toronto. The Rev. Canon Andrew Sheldon, parish priest at All Saints’, remembers Lloyd as a bon vivant, who loved life, fine suits and good food.

A devoted servant of the national church, Fr. Lloyd received an honorary doctorate in recognition of his contributions

His funeral service will be held on Friday, April 26, at 11 a.m. at All Saints’ Kingsway, 2850 Bloor St. W., Toronto.

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Anglican Journal News, April 25, 2013

Busan bound: delegates prepare for WCC Assembly

Posted on: April 27th, 2013 by CEP Administrator No Comments

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By Ali Symons, General Synod Senior Editor

April 24, 2013–It will be a large, diverse, global gathering—some 825 Christian delegates from more than 300 churches—including the Anglican Church of Canada.

Melissa Green, Nicholas Pang, and the Rev. Canon John Alfred Steele are official Canadian Anglican delegates to the tenth World Council of Churches (WCC) Assembly Oct. 30 to Nov. 8 in Busan, Republic of Korea.

This assembly, the WCC’s highest governing body, meets every seven years. Working under the theme “God of life, lead us to justice and peace,” the assembly aims to deepen churches’ commitment to visible unity and common witness.

On April 11 and 12, the three Canadian delegates participated in an ecumenical orientation in Toronto, where they learned about the assembly and the WCC, which connects Canadian Anglicans with some 500 million Christians—Orthodox, Lutheran, Reformed, and others—in more than 110 countries.

“I’m really excited and a little scared. This is big,” said Ms. Green, program director at Sorrento Retreat and Conference Centre in Sorrento, B.C. She expects to be reading a lot about WCC work between now and the assembly.

Each day of the Busan meeting will be grounded in common prayer and Bible study. Delegates review WCC work and have time to meet by regions and confessions. Four days feature “madang” segments for exploring more specific topics in workshops, exhibitions, and side events.

Canon Steele, a priest in Victoria, B.C., said he is looking forward to the assembly receiving a “very exciting” theological document-The Church: Towards a Common Vision. This document reveals what WCC member churches can say together about the church. It is the first of these “convergence” documents since a 1982 agreement on baptism, Eucharist, and ministry.

The Busan assembly will also adopt a unity statement, a tradition at past assemblies.

Canon Steele is the veteran of the delegation. He attended the last WCC Assembly in Porto Alegre, Brazil, and has served on the WCC’s central committee since then.

“Unity is important because division among churches detracts from our witness,” he said.

Ms. Green and Mr. Steele were elected by the Council of General Synod and Mr. Pang, an ordinand in the Diocese of Montreal, was chosen later to fulfill balances mandated by the WCC.

In Busan, the Korean Christian context will be an important theme. For two days, delegates will learn more about ecumenical life in Korea, where Christians make up one quarter of the population.

At the ecumenical orientation in Toronto, organizers said that Korean leaders in Busan appear unphased by recent threats of violence from North Korea. Assembly work is proceeding as planned.

In addition to the 825 delegates, the assembly will welcome hundreds of volunteers, workshop leaders, and guests.

Archdeacon Bruce Myers, General Synod’s coordinator for ecumenical relations, will attend as advisor to the delegation. National Indigneous Anglican Bishop Mark MacDonald will be present as consensus candidate for the WCC North American regional presidency.

Two Canadian Anglicans serve as WCC staff and will attend the assembly: the Rev. Canon Dr. John Gibaut, Director of Faith and Order, and Natasha Klukach, WCC program executive for Church and Ecumenical Relations / North American Regional Relations

The Rev. Canon Dr. Alyson Barnett-Cowan, another Canadian Anglican, will attend as the Anglican Communion’s director for Unity, Faith, and Order.

Photo: WCC Assembly delegates (L-R) Nicholas Pang, Melissa Green, and the Rev. Canon John Alfred Steele in Toronto.

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Anglican Church of Canada, News from General Synod, April 24, 2013